Poyet: how I was treated by Roland

Rebuilding his career in Cyprus, Diego Poyet recalls how he was treated by Roland when he left Charlton: Getting back on track

Despite his success on the pitch, Charlton were slow to try to tie down the out-of-contract Poyet to a new deal, making him wonder about his worth at a club where he had grown up: 'After about three or four weeks they contacted me and I wasn't really pleased with the offer they gave me. I'd been at the club six or seven years and had a close relationship with a lot of the players and the offer made me feel under-appreciated, considering how long I'd been at the club and I'd just won player of the year.'

Poyet continued: 'There was a discussion where they weren't going to make another offer. I was a free agent and I told them to forget about it and I wasn't going to turn up to pre-season, I was going to look for another option. That is how I ended up leaving a club that I had a lot of admiration and love for. I spent a lot of time there. It was my hometown as well and I ended up leaving in a way where most people don't know the truth.'

'The contract was offered, I said I wasn't happy with it and then they started throwing in things like a loan move to Standard Liege and this and that. I wondered if they wanted me at Charlton why they would offer for me to go out on loan somewhere. It ended in not a nice way but it is what it is and I'm sure it's happened to a lot of players.'